Jiangsu Suning F.C.

History

The club was founded in April 1958 as Jiangsu Provincial Team by the local government and took part in the 1959 Chinese National Games where they placed twelfth. They joined the top tier of the gradually expanding Chinese football league system in 1960, where they came nineteenth out of a possible twenty-five. By 1963, the league had expanded to thirty-nine teams and the Chinese Football Association were looking to only have twenty teams for next season's league system. Jiangsu finished seventh within the group stages, which relegated them from the league system. In 1964, they did not take part in any of the divisions but returned to play in the second tier in 1965 where they came seventh in the group stages.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution halted the league for several seasons. When it returned in 1973, Jiangsu entered the league back into the top tier where they finished the league in eleventh. Jiangsu's time in the top tier did not last very long, and by the 1978 season, they were relegated to the second division at the end of the season. For the next several years, Jiangsu remained a second tier club except for a brief period in 1988. However, in 1992 they won the second tier title and guaranteed promotion to the first fully professional first-tier league, the Chinese Jia-A League, no matter what happened in the 1993 season.

In March 1994, the club gained sponsorship and changed their name to Jiangsu Maint to comply with the requirements to take part in the 1994 Chinese Jia-A League season. They struggled with professionalism on and off the field; on the field they were relegated at the end of the season. The stricter operational costs of the league caused the club to struggle financially, which was exasperated when they also lost their sponsorship. They gained some financial support from several major Chinese businesses, such as Jiangsu TV, Jinling Petrochemical Company, several Jiangsu tobacco companies, and some international investment companies that came in 1996. The club changed their name to Jiangsu Jiajia to represent this. Even though Jiangsu were able to gain some financial stability, they were still relegated to the third tier at the end of the 1996 season. They spent one season there after they won the division league title in 1997.

On 7 January 2000, the manufacturing company Jiangsu Sainty International Group decided to take over the club and changed the club's name to Jiangsu Sainty. The new owners did not get off to the best of starts when it was discovered they were unable to control some of their players and coaches from taking bribes, the 6 October game in the 2001 season against Chengdu Wuniu when they lost 4–2 was highlighted, and the offending participants were banned for a year while the club had three months to reform and re-apply for a Chinese Football Association playing license. After promising to clean up the club, the team lingered in the second tier for several years until they brought in Pei Encai to manage the team and win the division title at the end of the 2008 season.

The introduction of Serbian manager Dragan Okuka during the 2011 league season saw a significant improvement in league table finishes, which saw a fourth-place finish at the end of the campaign and a runners-up position in the 2012 season. Off the field the Jiangsu Sainty International Group was merged into Guoxin Group in 2011 to form Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group Limited, this saw the Guoxin Group became the owner of the club. The club's name remained as Jiangsu Sainty F.C. until January 2014, when they changed into Jiangsu Guoxin-Sainty F.C.

On the field under Dragan Okuka the club had a difficult 2013 league season and was almost relegated, which led to the club deciding not to renew his contract. By the 2015 league season Romanian manager Dan Petrescu was brought into Jiangsu where he won them the 2015 Chinese FA Cup for the first time and qualification to the 2016 AFC Champions League. On 21 December 2015 the club was purchased by Suning Appliance Group for ¥523 million and changed their name as Jiangsu Suning F.C.

In January 2016, Jiangsu Suning broke their transfer fee record twice in the same window, with a fee of £25 million paid for Ramires from Chelsea FC, and later fellow Brazilian Alex Teixeira for a fee of €50 million (£37 million) from Shakhtar Donetsk

Rivalries

The club has rivalries with neighbouring Jiangnan club's Hangzhou Greentown F.C. and Shanghai-based teams Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C. and Shanghai SIPG F.C. where they contest in a fixture called the Yangtze Delta Derby. Out of these ties the clash against Shanghai Greenland Shenhua is the oldest and fiercest, which can be dated as far back to the 1960 league championship. When Jiangsu were relegated to the second tier in 1978 it put a halt to the rivalty between these two clubs, which wasn't properly reignited until both teams were in the 2009 top flight and hostilities were allowed to flare-up again. Direct competition for silverware fought between these two teams finally emerged when they competed in the 2015 Chinese FA Cup final, in which Jiangsu won 1–0 to claim their first Cup win.

The Nanjing derby was a local inner city derby against Nanjing Yoyo F.C. that started when Nanjing Yoyo moved into the same city as Jiangsu and into their former home ground of Wutaishan Stadium. Their first meeting occurred in Nanjing Yoyo's home ground on 19 July 2003 in a second tier league game, which ended in a 1–1 draw. For six seasons the two teams fought to be the dominant club within Nanjing City with Jiangsu predominately showing this with four wins, seven draws and only one defeat against Nanjing Yoyo. When Jiangsu won promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2008 league season it would put a halt to the derby until 7 May 2011 when Nanjing Yoyo were dissolved due to finical difficulties.

First team squad

As of 2 March 2017

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Managerial history

Managers who have coached the club and team since Jiangsu Sainty became a professional club back in 1994.

Honors

This list contains both honors received as a professional team and as a semi-professional team.

League

Chinese Jia-A League/Chinese Super League (Top Tier League)

Runners Up (2): 2012, 2016

Chinese Jia B League/Chinese League One (Second Tier League)

Winners (2): 1992, 2008

Chinese Yi League/Chinese League Two (Third Tier League)

Winners (1): 1997

Cups

Chinese FA Cup

Winners (1): 2015 Runners Up (2): 2014, 2016

Chinese FA Super Cup

Winners (1): 2013 Runners Up (1): 2016

All-time league rankings

As of the end of 2016 season.

No league games in 1959, 1966–1972, and 1975; Jiangsu did not compete in 1964 and 1985

^1 In final group stage ^2 In group stage. ^3 Promoted to the 1994 first tier.

Key